An attraction, such as an interactive game system, provides an entertaining experience to the guests of the attraction, including the drivers and the spectators. A game system which provides an interesting experience for non-players (in addition to players) helps to establish an environment conducive to increased business for an entertainment facility.
One class of entertainment attractions employs remote-controlled (RC) vehicles that traverse a defined environment having definite boundaries, such as, miniature cars and a race course, miniature boats and a lagoon, or hovercrafts and a flat surface surrounded by a retaining wall or rail. In return for a coin or token paid to a cashier or entered into a driver console, a driver is allotted a predetermined amount of play time during which the driver can navigate a RC vehicle about the defined environment.
Typically, the RC vehicles and the defined environment are in direct view of the drivers, and the driver navigates the RC vehicle through the defined environment by watching the RC vehicle as it moves in the defined environment and among other RC vehicles, and making steering and throttle adjustments at the driver console. In addition to the entertainment provided by navigating the RC vehicle, the RC vehicle can trip sensors dispersed about the defined environment. Tripping a sensor can cause different events to occur in the defined environment, such as, flashing lights, squirting water, and fire effects. Examples of such entertainment attractions are provided by Thola Productions, Inc., of Laguna Hills, Calif.
In more sophisticated systems, the RC vehicle is identified by a sensor so that vehicle-specific responses can be made, such as, spinning out the RC vehicle or adding play time to the driver console. An example of this is a hovercraft game provided by Thola Productions, Inc.
Although capable of providing an entertaining experience, the scope of experiences available to the guests of typical attractions utilizing RC vehicles is somewhat limited. For example, the guests have a remote point-of-view of the interactions between the RC vehicle and the defined environment rather than a direct point-of-view, such as, a view obtained by being in the car or the boat, or on the race course or in the water. Thus, the guest cannot fully experience visually the acceleration, bumps, wakes, collisions, spin outs, or falls of the RC vehicles. Further, because the driver must be able to view the RC vehicle and the defined environment in order to navigate, navigation through a maze or night environment is not feasible because the driver could not see the vehicle through the walls of the maze or through the darkness. Thus, the driver is deprived of an entire class of experience, namely, exploration.
It is also the case that most forms of entertainment providing an exploration experience do so with a large real estate footprint, hedge mazes are an example that can cover 20,000 square feet; or are entirely virtual in nature, which "colors" the experience as artificial and deprives the designers of the capabilities available by using stagecraft techniques.
Another drawback of the typical entertainment attraction is that the reward to the driver for an achievement or failure is passive and limited. For example, an achievement is rewarded by flashing lights, extending play time, or executing a choreographed event in the environment; a failure is rewarded by the driver losing control of the RC vehicle as he watches it spin out of control. Consequently, the guests are subjected repetitively to a limited number of stimuli over which the driver has no control. Thus, the guest can lose interest in the entertainment attraction fairly quickly.
A further drawback is that the drivers and driver consoles are typically located adjacent the defined environment because of the need to directly view the vehicle to navigate it. Further, the spectators typically view the action from the perimeter of the defined environment. Consequently, the spectators' view of the defined environment and the action within can be obscured by the drivers and their consoles. Thus, the spectators may not be drawn to the game so as to become drivers themselves.
Still another drawback of the typical entertainment attraction is that play is usually interrupted while a game operator goes into the environment to retrieve an inoperable RC vehicle or return a repaired RC vehicle. Because the players desire non-stop operation, it is preferable that operable RC vehicles continue play while an RC vehicle is retrieved or returned.
An RC toy containing a television camera that uses a television module to display the point of view impressions of the RC vehicle has been described. Also known are miniature RC tanks with mounted television cameras in a simulated terrain. The simulated tanks' drivers view images of the terrain in front of the tank on a television monitor, and maneuver the tanks remotely. These applications, however, do not address employing an RC vehicle in an entertainment attraction.
A need therefore exists for an entertainment attraction that provides a more immersed and expansive entertainment experience to the guests than is possible with conventional entertainment attractions employing RC vehicles.